The No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, Sen. Dick Durbin, said in a Facebook post that a House Republican leader told off President Barack Obama during a negotiation meeting, and that GOP leaders are so disrespectful it’s practically impossible to have a conversation with them.

But Wednesday afternoon, both the White House and House speaker’s office denied his claims.

Calling a government shutdown strategy from Republicans “disastrous,” Durbin did not specify which leader made the comment, what the context was or how the president responded. The only time GOP House leaders met with Obama during the shutdown was on Oct. 10, a meeting that Durbin did not attend.

The Senate majority whip offered the comment as rebuttal to the Republican argument that Obama does not do enough to communicate with Republicans, essentially saying to do so is impossible.

“What are the chances of an honest conversation with someone who has just said something so disrespectful?” Durbin wrote.

“Sen. Durbin’s accusation is a serious one, and it appears to have been invented out of thin air. The senator should disclose who told him this account of events, retract his reckless allegation immediately, and apologize,” Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck said in a statement sent out to reporters.